Cognitive Behavior Therapy Based Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: Cognitive Processing Therapy Approach What do you do when you experience a life threatening, traumatic event, and months later you are still experiencing the same frightening responses? Individuals who experience trauma are often forced to face their problems long after the event has happened. The first step to dealing with this issue would be to seek professional help as soon as possible so that they may be properly diagnosed and receive accurate treatment to overcome the intrusive symptoms. An individual who is suffering from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have experienced, witnessed, or was affected by a life threatening event. These individuals experience persistent responses that affect their lives drastically. They are constantly overwhelmed and cannot move on from persistent painful memories. They are in a terrifying state where they feel a constant sense of danger. This paper examines Cognitive Behavior Therapy’s (CBT) various Psychological Treatments for PTSD, specifically examining the effects of the Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) approach and its effects on controlling or reducing stressing and intrusive symptoms of PTSD to receive desired outcomes. According to the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IV-TR), individuals diagnosed with PTSD have to be exposed to an actual traumatic or life threatening event in which they experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event that could have caused serious injury or threatened the integrity of self or others, which initiated an intense response of agitated behavior, horror, or fear, (2000). Traumatic events include and are not limit... ... middle of paper ... ... Foa, E. B., Davidson, R. T., & Frances, A. (1999). Expert Consensus Guideline Series: Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. American Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60, 5−76. Foa, E.B., Keane, T., and Friedman, M. (2000) (Eds.) Treatment guidelines for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. New York: Guilford Press. Foa, E. B., Rothbaum, B. O., & Furr, J. M. (2003). Augmenting exposure therapy with other CBT procedures. Psychiatric Annals, 33(1), 47−53. Friedberg, R. D., & McClure, J. M. (2002). Clinical Practice of Cognitive Therapy with Children and Adolescents. New York: The Guildord Press. Rauch, S. A. M., & Cahill, S. P. (2003). Treatment and prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder. Primary Psychiatry.10(8), 60-65. Resick, P. A., & Schnicke, M. K. (1993). Cognitive processing therapy for rape victims: A treatment manual. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
PTSD is a battle for everyone who is diagnosed and for the people close to them. The only way to fight and win a battle is to understand what one is fighting. One must understand PTSD if he or she hopes to be cured of it. According to the help guide, “A positive way to cope with PTSD is to learn about trauma and PTSD”(Smith and Segal). When a person knows what is going on in his or her body, it could give them better control over their condition. One the many symptoms of PTSD is the feeling of helplessness, yet, knowing the symptoms might give someone a better sense of understanding. Being in the driver’s seat of the disorder, can help recognize and avoid triggers. Triggers could be a smell, an image, a sound, or anything that could cause an individual to have a flashback of the intimidating event. Furthermore, knowing symptoms of PTSD could, as well, help one in recovering from the syndrome. For instance, a person could be getting wor...
Ozer, Emily, and Daniel Weiss. "Who Develops Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?." Current Directions in Psychological Science. 13.4 (2004): 169-172. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
This paper will present the 2 completed pilot studies showing the effectiveness of using 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) along with Psychotherapy as a treatment for Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). It will also give details about the study protocol for the upcoming pilot study being done in Canada and the Phase 2 protocol for the United States. MDMA along with psychotherapy is an effective treatment for PTSD and yields promising results.
Psychotherapy integration is best explained as an attempt to look beyond and across the dimensions of a single therapy approach, to examine what one can learn from other perspectives, and how one’s client’s can benefit from various ways of administering therapy (Corey, 2013). Research has shown that a variety of treatments are equally effective when administered by therapist who believe in them and client’s that accept them (Corey, 2013). Therefore, one of the best aspects of utilizing an integrative approach is that, in most cases, if a therapist understands how and when to incorporate therapeutic interventions, they usually can’t go wrong. While integrating different approaches can be beneficial for the client, it is also important for the
Whealin, J.M., Decarvahlo, L.T. and Edward, M.V. (2008) Clinician’s Guide to Treating Stress After War. New-Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, pp.20-30.
The article under review is Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the DSM-5: Controversy, Change, and Conceptual Considerations by Anushka Pai, Alina M. Suris, and Carol S. North in Behavioral Sciences. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event, like combat, a natural disaster, a car accident, or sexual assault (U.S. Department VA, 2007). PTSD can happen to anyone and many factors can increase the possibility of developing PTSD that are not under the person’s own control. Symptoms of PTSD usually will start soon after the traumatic event but may not appear for months or years later. There are four types of symptoms of PTSD but may show in different
CBT has been known to cure a variety of disorders both in clinical environments and non-clinical environments. This type of therapy technique has been tested for efficacy and has proven to be highly effective. Furthermore, the future for CBT looks very positive as well. Researchers and theorist are now working on making this type of therapy available for suicide prevention, schizophrenia, and other psychopathologies.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is defined by our book, Abnormal Psychology, as “an extreme response to a severe stressor, including increased anxiety, avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma, and symptoms of increased arousal.” In the diagnosis of PTSD, a person must have experienced an serious trauma; including “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation.” In the DSM-5, symptoms for PTSD are grouped in four categories. First being intrusively reexperiencing the traumatic event. The person may have recurring memories of the event and may be intensely upset by reminders of the event. Secondly, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event, either internally or externally. Third, signs of mood and cognitive change after the trauma. This includes blaming the self or others for the event and feeling detached from others. The last category is symptoms of increased arousal and reactivity. The person may experience self-destructive behavior and sleep disturbance. The person must have 1 symptom from the first category, 1 from the second, at least 2 from the third, and at least 2 from the fourth. The symptoms began or worsened after the trauma(s) and continued for at least one
Tworus, R., Szymanska, S., & Ilnicki, S. (2010). A Soldier Suffering from PTSD, Treated by
PTSD is a debilitating mental illness that occurs when someone is exposed to a traumatic, dangerous, frightening, or a possibly life-threating occurrence. “It is an anxiety disorder that can interfere with your relationships, your work, and your social life.” (Muscari, pp. 3-7) Trauma affects everyone in different ways. Everyone feels wide ranges of emotions after going through or witnessing a traumatic event, fear, sadness and depression, it can cause changes in your everyday life as in your sleep and eating patterns. Some people experience reoccurring thoughts and nightmares about the event.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a hands-on form of psychotherapy that is empirically based, which focuses on the interrelationship between emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. Through CBT, patients are able to identify their distorted thinking and modify their beliefs in order to change their behaviors. Once a patient changes their distorted thinking, they are able to think in a more positive and realistic manner. Overall, CBT focuses on consistent problem solving strategies and changing negative thought distortions and negative behavior. There are different types of CBT, which share common elements. Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a kind of CBT, which falls under the umbrella of CBT.
Friedberg, R. D., McClure, J. M. & Garcia, J. H. (2009). Cognitive therapy techniques for children and adolescents: Tools for enhancing practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press
Studies show that TF-CBT has been effective when working with children and reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression, and behavior problems following trauma (Cary & McMillen, 2011). Bisson and Andrew (2009) state through systematic review of adults, TF-CBT performed eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy (EMDR) and outperformed other treatments. The Kauffman Best Practices Project (2004) believes that TF-CBT is the “best practice” in the field of child abuse treatment.
Schiraldi, G. R. (2009). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook: A guide to healing, recovery, and growth. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
“Cognitive-behavior therapy refers to those approaches inspired by the work of Albert Ellis (1962) and Aaron Beck (1976) that emphasize the need for attitude change to promote and maintain behavior modification” (Nichols, 2013, p.185). A fictitious case study will next be presented in order to describe ways in which cognitive behavioral therapy can be used to treat the family members given their presenting problems.